Georgia is developing its first full-scale windfarm, producing around 20.7MW. Mott MacDonald is the lenders’ technical advisor for the $34 million project and will continue to play an advisory role now that the project has come to a financial close.

Georgia is located at crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. The country of around 3.7 million people has a relatively varied energy generation mix, with the mountainous regions of the country providing ample possibilities for hydro-electric energy, which is complemented by biofuels/waste combustion and at a lesser capacity by coal and oil.

In a bid to diversify its energy generation mix, and experiment with the country’s wind energy generation potential, a tender for the delivery of the Gori onshore wind farm was opened last year. The 20.7MW wind farm, the first full-scale wind farm in Georgia, recently achieved financial close for $34 million.

Mott MacDonald provided lenders’ technical advisory for the project and is now contracted to monitor the construction and operation phase. In addition, the firm has provided a range of technical advisory and specialised engineering services to the project, including expected annual energy yield, construction management interfaces and contractual arrangements with the national grid operator.

Jon Campbell-Copp, Mott MacDonald’s Project Manager, says, “This project sets an important precedent for development in the region. Working closely with the project sponsor and lenders, we were able to develop solutions to mitigate potential challenges encountered during the financing and construction stages.”